Horror thriller It Comes at Night hits cinemas this Friday. It's a claustrophobic, bleak, intense coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of an unseen apocalypse, starring Joel Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo – go see it, it's excellent!

However, if you do decide to watch the trailer – which we'd advise against – you would be forgiven for expecting some sort of body horror/zombie movie where the thing that 'comes at night' is either a pukey woman or a scary naked old man with black, hollow eyes.

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Not so.

This is not the first time trailers have implied you'd be watching an entirely different movie - for better or worse. Here are the trailers that totally pulled the wool over our eyes.

1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, a black, white and red colour palette and some plinky plonky music – so far, so Tim Burton. As a gothic-horror tale of a wrongly accused man returned to take vengeance on the judge who ruined his life, the trailer is pretty accurate.

However, it fails to actually explain this is a musical – there's only one small smidge of Depp singing a song in the trailer (and no one else does at all), which is not representative of this full-on song and dance fest.

2. The Grey

Anyone who says they didn't go to see The Grey to watch Liam Neeson punch a wolf in the face is a crazy person or a total fibber. This movie from Joe Carnahan – the director of The A-Team, also starring Neeson – had more than a hint of the grindhouse B-movie actioner about it from the trailer.

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Turns out it isn't actually Takenwith Wolves, as we might have thought, but a very sad, serious and grown-up drama about loss and death. And there's barely a lupine punch-up to be found.

3. Bridge to Terabithia

Pity the poor child who went to see this movie expecting a fun fantasy film in the vein of Chronicles of Narnia and the Spiderwick Chronicles packed with giants, pixies, fairies, tree monsters and all manner of wonderful magical creatures.

There may be an element of that, but *ssshhh spoilers* – Teribithia is just in the imaginations of the two friends, Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb. The major turning point comes when Robb's character dies horribly, leaving poor old Hutcherson to deal with his feelings of grief, guilt and isolation. Absolutely devastating.

4. Frozen

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OK, so now it's a mega success merchandised up the wazoo, but this first teaser trailer made the story of regal sisters Anna and Elsa look like a wacky comedy about a snowman and a reindeer.

In reality, they're not in it that much compared with the women (thank God, because – don't shoot us – they're the worst bit about it).

Though there certainly is humour in the movie, this is a serious role for Jim Carrey opposite Kate Winslet – they play a couple whose relationship has gone south, and who decide to erase their memories of each other completely. It's actually really sad.

6. The Cabin in the Woods

There's definitely something to be said for a trailer which doesn't spoil its major twist. So while The Cabin in the Woods' teaser doesn't really give you a true sense of what this movie actually is, we aren't complaining.

We are more reflecting on the impossible task Lionsgate had when it came to marketing a horror which is actually satirising 'Cabin in the Woods' movies. This teaser makes it look like a fairly straight-up teen slasher, downplaying the humour and the meta elements of the film. Fortunately, word of mouth alerted audiences to the fact that it was a much smarter movie than it looked.

7. Birdman: or the Unexpected virtue of Ignorance.

It starts with Michael Keaton seemingly levitating in his pants; later we see explosions, a giant mecha-monster and the wings of his alter-ego Birdman expanding behind him.

What kind of bizarre, messed-up superhero movie is this? No kind, in fact. Instead it's an arthouse film about a washed-up actor trying to find respect and meaning after his career has sunk. Great movie, but not one for those seeking comic book thrills.